The present invention relates to an apparatus to enable necked bottles, especially wine bottles, to be safely carried or stored. In particular, the invention enables one or more necked bottles to be inverted and supported at two spaced locations on the bottle's neck.
Aitchenson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 323,486 discloses a box for bottled liquids with three different sets of partitioning rods arranged so that a bottle inserted neck first into the box is supported at the shoulder of the bottle by one set of rods and at two higher positions on the body of the bottle by the other sets of rods. Distler U.S. Pat. No. 1,008,447 discloses a hinged two-compartment bottle case in which the bottles in an upper compartment are held inverted, with their necks between necks of upright bottles in a lower compartment. The inverted bottles are supported at their shoulders by a single partition having openings for receiving the necks of the bottles. Everhart U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,965,886 and 1,995,280 disclose bottle carriers in which the bottles are carried upright by passing the necks of the bottles through apertures.
None of these prior bottle carriers is capable of supporting an inverted necked bottle at two locations on the neck so as to eliminate the need for any substantial support of the bottle's body portion.